


Unfortunate Coincidences

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Dumb boys being dumb, Eren laughs at him a lot, Jean is a dick, M/M, Training, and eventually they cuddle and share feelings, and is also really bad at survival skills, and slowly warming up to one another, but is also really bad so has no room to talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2013-09-27
Packaged: 2017-12-27 03:12:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean and Eren have to survive on their own for a week, relying only on one another, as part of their training. Jean is convinced this is because the universe hates him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

This was not how Jean had expected his day to go when he woke up this morning. He wasn’t exactly sure what he /had/ been expecting, or what he wanted, but he knew that it definitely, definitely wasn’t this.

Every year, as part of their training, each squad was broken up into pairs and sent off into a forested area inside Wall Rose, where they had to survive for seven days with no contact from others. They had to fend for themselves, learn how to keep alive in case they ever ended up in a situation where they were stranded without help for days (on the off-chance that a titan didn’t get to them immediately) and, supposedly, build a stronger working relationship with their teammate. 

That last part was bullshit, though, because it just so happened that Jean had been assigned to work with /Eren/. Not Mikasa, not Marco, not even Connie or Sasha, but /Eren Jaeger/ was the only human being he’d be allowed to see for an entire week. It was unfair. It was further proof that the universe was out to get him. Heck, he’d even go so far as to say that it was /torture/. 

Eren, on the other hand, had been surprisingly quiet during the two hour trek out here, and that just pissed Jean off even more, because not only was he suffering out here, but he was suffering /alone/. 

"When are we going to set up camp already?" He asked finally after getting tired of sulking, glaring holes into the back of Eren’s head as the other teen walked in front of him, his 3D gear bumping against his legs as he went. They only had six tubes of gas to last the week between the two of them, so it would be stupid to waste them so quickly just getting to the site. But Jean was getting tired of walking, and it wasn’t fair that Eren seemed to be completely ok with all of this. 

They hated each other. They were /enemies/. Eren was his rival in love and his rival in skill and they just weren’t fated to get along, no matter what Marco sometimes said about how similar they were. 

Eren cast Jean a dark look over his shoulder, but otherwise didn’t answer him. 

Jean did not appreciate being ignored. 

"What? Aren’t you going to say something?" He can feel his temper flaring as Eren flat out ignores him, and his fists are clenching despite himself. He can hear a peculiar grinding noise, but he ignores it as he crosses his arms, continuing to grumble. 

It takes less than five minutes for Eren to snap, and if Jean hadn’t been so caught up in his own thoughts he probably would have noticed it before he’s sprawled out on his back.

"Would you just shut up already?!" Eren snaps from where he’s sitting on top of the other cadet, pinning him down. "Christ, you’re so fucking annoying! Constantly whining and grumbling, shut the fuck up!"

Jean just stares for a moment, his jaw slack before his face heats up and his cheeks pink. He starts to struggle, which is difficult because Eren’s got him pinned in such a way that his centre of gravity is all thrown off, and he can’t find any sort of leverage. 

"You shut up!" He snaps back, and for the first time he’s happy that it’s just him and Eren out here together. He would have died if Mikasa ever heard him sound so horribly uncool. But now that he’s started, there’s no point in stopping, so he bucks his hips in another attempt to knock Eren off and just keeps going. "This whole training exercise is stupid! Why the hell do I have to be stuck out here for a week with YOU of all people? And why the hell do we even have to do this in the first place?!" He watches Eren’s face as it clouds over with anger, and he takes a deep breath, a lopsided smirk coming to his face as he spits the next words out into his partner’s face. "I mean, I can understand it, for somebody like you, with stupid, childish dreams like joining the scouting legion and killing all the titans. But I’m going to be in the military police, so why do I have to—" 

Eren’s fist impacts with his jaw, and he doesn’t finish his sentence. He was expecting it, and he’s expecting the second blow too, but he’s honestly kind of surprised when it ends there. The first punch caused him to bite the inside of his cheek, and blood trickles from the inside of his mouth as he glares up at Eren, but the other teen is staring down at him with contempt and loathing that is completely out of proportion for the situation. But he doesn’t strike again. 

"I don’t want to be here with you either," Eren says after a moment’s silence as he pulls himself off of Jean. "But I’m going to go through with it without complaining, because I joined the military to make a difference. I’m not a worthless, sniveling coward like you, who only wants to keep himself safe!" 

Jean is silent, because Eren is literally shaking now, and the sight does something funny to his stomach. For a second he thinks he might be feeling guilty for pushing things to far, but no, that’s not right, because this is Eren and Eren is his nemesis. There’s no way he’s feeling guilty for this at all. 

He stays silent, though, as Eren fixes his clothes and turns around. 

"If you’re just going to whine and complain about everything then just stay here. I’ll do everything myself." 

He stomps off after that, and Jean just crosses his arms and stares at the ground, because he is definitely not in the wrong here. He’s right to be pissed off, because he didn’t ask for this, and he is definitely not a coward. He’s a perfectly sane, normal person who doesn’t want to throw away his life for no reason, that’s all. Eren is the one who’s in the wrong. 

He flops down and sits against a tree trunk, determined to convince himself of that fact, and after twenty minutes he almost manages to do it.

But then he just feels like a stupid, childish idiot, and he looks up in the direction Eren stormed off to in a huff. 

He’s not going to apologize, because he’s not wrong. But he can’t just sit here doing nothing, so he follows after Eren without even muttering a single complaint under his breath. He considers it a small victory. 

**

It doesn’t really take long to find the other teenager, and when he does, Jean just sort of sighs. It’s clear that Eren is taking this very seriously - he’s already built himself a little shelter and is working on getting a fire going - but it’s also pretty clear that he’s just… not very good at it. The shelter is flimsy at best, and Eren’s hands are bleeding from how long he’s been rubbing those two sticks together. And it’s not that Jean cares, really, but taking care of a partner who’s feverish with infection would be a pain in the ass, so he walks over and flops down on the ground beside the other cadet. 

Eren, who was so focused on his fire, apparently hadn’t noticed him walking up and nearly jumped a foot in the air. This was clearly a victory on Jean’s part, but he decided to spare Eren the humiliation of sniggering at him, because he was a mature individual who was capable of working with others and was definitely /not wrong/, and he was going to prove it. So, without warning, he snatches the two twigs from Eren’s hands and points to the small satchel that had been left in the awful little structure nearby. They’d been given two days worth of water and two loaves of bread - along with a single cloak that Jean supposes they might have to use as a blanket at some point, with the way the weather is steadily getting colder. 

"Don’t say anything and go clean your hands. And pull out the slivers, because I’m not taking care of you if you get sick," he says, and Eren looks about ready to bite his head off, but Jean is determined not to let him get a word in edge-wise. "I’ll make the fire, and then we’ll eat."

"You’re not the leader here," Eren says immediately, and it’s Jean’s turn to grind his teeth and glare, because goddamnit he was trying to be /civil/, but Eren has dropped the sticks and obediently gone back to clean his wounds, so he figures it isn’t so bad. 

"Whatever. If it makes you feel better, I will graciously and generously give you the title of being the leader, because I’m a nice guy. But that still doesn’t mean I’m looking after you if you get sick," He says, and Eren just sort of glares at him, his jaw moving a bit like he’s seriously thinking this over. 

"That’s bull. You’re basically saying the only reason I’m the leader is because you’re /letting/ me be the leader," He insists, and Jean just sighs heavily. He wishes that the intense hatred and frustration he felt for Eren Jaeger was enough to cause a spark and get this stupid fire started. 

"Fine, then I’ll be the leader. We both know I’d be better at it anyways," He says, changing his angle and focusing on what he’s doing. He can literally /hear/ the angry, sulking pout on Eren’s face, though, and all it does is frustrate him even more. 

"I just said you’re not the leader!" Eren snaps, and Jean lets out an angry, exasperated groan as he slams the stupid sticks down and glares at the other boy. 

"Ok! Fuck! I don’t fucking care! We’ll take turns! You can be the leader for odd days, I’ll be the leader for even days, ok?! We’ll switch every night and figure out what to do from there." 

Eren just sort of stares at him, but then a little smirk comes across his face as he leans back and nods. Jean is surprised, because he wasn’t expecting this to go that well. But then he can feel a peculiar stinging in his fingertips. 

"Hey leader, you just set yourself on fire," Eren points out, and Jean is sure that yes, the universe seriously does just /hate/ him.


	2. 1.5

The first night was hell, Jean thinks as he wakes up the next morning with a stiff back and bags under his eyes. 

After finally managing to get the fire going, he and Eren had taken to sitting on opposite sides without saying anything. It was ok, for a while, until Jean found that sitting on the ground in his full gear was getting to be a bit uncomfortable. 

He’d barely managed to finish undoing the straps on his legs before he became aware of Eren glaring at him like he wanted to set him on fire and roast him alive. He tried to ignore it at first, but ignoring Eren was something that Jean had never been particularly good at. He raised his eyes and made sure to level the other teen with a particularly unamused look. 

"What?" He asked, trying to keep his tone level. He was really surprised that it actually worked. 

"You’re taking off your 3d gear," Eren said, like the act in and of itself was a scathing sin. Jean didn’t understand what the big deal was; heck, he was more surprised that Eren /wasn’t/ taking his off. It was fine to be wearing it while in action or training, but after a while the straps really began to dig into the muscles. It wasn’t unusual to be riddled with bruises after wearing it for a day, and if they were going to be out here all /week/, sleeping on the cold ground, then Jean was going to make sure he was in as little pain as possible. 

"Congratulations, Eren Jaeger, you have just stated the obvious. I applaud your amazing skills of observation," Jean drawled as he continued loosening belts and undoing straps. The release of pressure was almost instant, and he sighed and slumped down in relief. Eren was still staring at him like he hoped the intensity of his look would be enough to intimidate the ground around Jean into opening up and dropping him straight into hell. 

"That’s stupid. You never take off your 3D gear when you’re stranded outside the walls. What if a titan were to attack right now? You’d be completely defenseless, and I’d have to save you!" He snapped, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Jean was a moron for not getting the seriousness of the situation. Normally, Jean thinks that maybe he might agree; but Eren seemed to be forgetting one very important thing. 

"We’re not outside the walls, though," Jean pointed out, taking the straps off completely and folding them up inside his satchel. "There /are/ no titans here. It’s just a training exercise - a really, really stupid one, might i add - and I’m not going to suffer this week any more than I have to."

Eren’s face did that thing where his eyebrows screw together and he looked kind of psychotically angry, and he slammed his fist down onto the ground. 

"That’s not the fucking point! You’re supposed to treat it like we’re outside the walls, that’s the whole reason behind the training! If you’re going to slack off then it doesn’t mean anything!" He sounded legitimately pissed, and for a second Jean almost felt bad… But the moment passes, and he just snorts before digging through his bag and pulling out the two bread rolls that they’ve been given. It wouldn’t do for them to spoil, so they might as well eat now. 

He tossed one to Eren, who was so startled that he nearly dropped it into the fire. If Jean were a lesser person, he would have mocked him mercilessly for the mishap; as it was, he just gave him a snide smirk as he bit into his own meal. 

"Like I said before," he continued with a mouthful of food, ignoring the look he got in response. "That sort of thing is great for suicidal guys like you who want to join the scouting legion. But I’m going to the military police. I’m never going to be outside the walls, so I’m never going to /be/ in this situation. And right now? I am tired of being uncomfortable as fuck in this harness, so I’m taking it off." 

So he did, and Eren’s look of loathing didn’t abate. It wasn’t difficult for Jean to ignore it, though, and after a quiet meal, the two of them needed to figure out how to go to bed. 

"I’ll take first watch," Eren announced as he swallowed the last piece of his bread, and Jean looked at him like he was completely insane. 

"What do you mean, ‘watch’? Eren, we’re /inside the walls/. The only thing you could possibly need to watch for would be angry chipmunks," he explained, but Eren just scrunched up his face angrily once more and Jean sighed. There was no way he could get through to him, and there was no point in even trying anymore. It was like talking to a brick wall. 

So he waved him off, digging through the satchel to pull out the cloak that they had been assigned to share. It was the closest thing he had to a blanket, and as the sun sank down over the trees, he knew that he was going to need it. 

"Have fun, mister scouting legion," he shot out to Eren as he scooted under their shelter, curling up and resting his head on the bag. 

He was asleep for maybe four hours before Eren was shaking him awake again, the same intense expression on his face as ever. 

"It’s your turn to watch, Jean," he explained, and Jean had promptly given him the finger and rolled over once more. 

But it turned out that refusing an angry Eren was a bad idea, and that was how Jean ended up sitting out on a rock in front of the campsite, his bones aching as he stared into the forest at nothing. There was no risk of a titan attack, /of course/, so after a while he took to watching small animals run back and forth through the underbrush. 

For /four hours/. 

By the time the sun rose again, Jean was absolutely convinced that someone, somewhere, with a lot of power, hated him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of wanted to go farther with this chapter, but it was taking a long time, so I decided to just get SOMETHING out there for you guys. Hope this is ok!

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I'm actually writing something for this fandom that wasn't prompted, gasp! I know I have a bad history with multi-part fanfictions but I am seriously determined to finish this one. I hope the start was ok!


End file.
